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Category - Runway/Ramp

Kodiak Benny Benson State Airport (ADQ) faced a quandary when devising plans to meet the federal mandate for runway safety areas: There simply wasn’t enough land at the island-bound Alaskan facility to add them. So planners got creative and built into the ocean. Contractors moved an estimated 1.1 million tons of rock to fill a portion of the Gulf of Alaska in order to create enough surface area for an engineered material arresting system (EMAS) on one runway and to lengthen another runway to allow for an EMAS bed on its other end.

Denver International Airport (DEN) has a new tool at its disposal for managing winter operations: in-pavement sensors that help predict when ice will form on runway and other airfield surfaces. The system includes five clusters of sensors embedded in Runway 17L-35R, one of DEN’s four north/south runways, and three more clusters in adjacent high-speed taxiways. The in-pavement sensors were installed as part of a $46.5 million runway resurfacing project.

Many airport operators feel they have limited options when it comes to airfield pavements. As vital concrete and asphalt assets age and deteriorate, they repair areas as needed and wait for the field's pavement condition index to dictate a replacement project. When that day comes and goes, a new version of the same cycle begins again.

How does an airport with just one runway maintain operations while rehabilitating that runway? After nine months of intense and highly coordinated work on Runway 18-36, Myrtle Beach International (MYR) has some answers.

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) recently completed the total reconstruction of Runway 16C-34C, giving new life to the oldest of its three runways. And what a life it will be. The 9,426-foot runway that was originally built in 1969 is now projected to have another 40-year lifecycle.

It's often a challenge to secure partial funding for major projects, but Gainesville Regional Airport (GNV) in Florida received full funding from the state for its recent $2.8 million runway renovation. Typically, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) will pay up to 50% of construction expenses at state airports. However, it pays up to 100% of the cost for special demonstration projects.

In addition to the standard noise abatement challenges all airports face, Denver International (DEN) has an additional layer of complexity: a stringent noise compliance agreement with its county that dates back to 1989. Each of the agreement's 101 points includes a $500,000 annual penalty; so noise infractions could potentially cost DEN more than $50 million every year.

Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) is nearly halfway through an ambitious three-year project to bring all four runways at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) into compliance with FAA runway safety area requirements.

Justin Lobb, manager at Immokalee Regional (IMM) in Florida, doesn't mince words when he recalls how badly the airport's north-south runway needed a major makeover: "The pavements showed signs of water intrusion and longitudinal cracking. The maze of drainage ditches between the runway and Taxiway B also presented maintenance challenges. Irregular grading had resulted in unsafe ponding and wildlife attraction conditions, and the area was accessible for maintenance only during the dry season."

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) recently completed two massive projects to relight and remark its airfield. Almost all of the work occurred simultaneously, from March 2014 to July 2015. Together, the improvements cost the airport about $34 million - with no outside funding.

Memphis International (MEM) is embarking on an ambitious, multi-faceted plan to right-size its passenger terminal for a better fit with present and future traffic. The current priority, however, is airside enhancements.

Despite extra challenges from a mid-project military event and an unusually large pool of stakeholders, Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport (GPT) finished a $13.6 million runway reconstruction project last year - on time, on budget and without any interruptions to commercial airline service.

A series of airfield improvements at South Bimini Airport (YBS) is making it easier for travelers to get to Bimini, the tiny pair of Bahaman islands located just 50 miles off the east coast of Florida. That's good news for beachgoers, sport fishermen and any other North or South American travelers who want to escape to a tropical paradise without spending a lot of time getting there.

When Charles M. Schultz-Sonoma County Airport (STS) completed a $55 million runway expansion and improvement project last November, it not only met the congressionally mandated December 31, 2014, deadline for runway safety areas, it also added enough runway length to help attract regional jet traffic.

Although Renton Municipal Airport/Clayton Scott Field (RNT) is classified as a small general aviation reliever airport, its traffic is unusually taxing on airfield pavements. Every 737 produced at the adjacent Boeing factory takes its maiden flight off RNT's single runway; and to access the runway, the heavy aircraft must traverse the airport's 3,500-foot Taxiway B.

When it came time for Asheville Regional Airport (AVL) to reconstruct its only runway, the management team got creative. Instead of resigning to an extended shutdown that would have effectively put the North Carolina airport out of business for an extensive period, they decided to build a new taxiway and use it as a temporary runway while the existing runway is demolished and reconstructed.

Passengers touching down on Runway 4R at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County International Airport (DTW) probably assume that the long, plain structure off the end of Runway 22L is a fence or billboard space ready for advertisers. (See photo)

Executives at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) recently became official fans of "not throwing the baby out with the bathwater." By replacing the workhorse center strip of Runway 8L-26R and leaving its seldom-used outer edges undisturbed, the bustling hub not only saved time and money on construction, it also minimized operational disruptions and related costs for ATL's carriers.

With average snow accumulations of 4 1/2 feet per winter, snow removal is serious business at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP). Crews plow, blow, broom and deice more than 28 million square feet in airfield pavement alone - the equivalent of a two-lane highway running from the Twin Cities to New Orleans.

San Francisco International Airport (SFO) completed a two-phase runway safety area (RSA) project in early August (2014) — beating its own schedule by one month and finishing more than a year ahead of the congressionally mandated Dec. 31, 2015, deadline for all federally obligated and Part 139 airports. The new safety features, estimated to cost about $223 million, are designed to significantly reduce personal injury and aircraft damage in the event of runway overruns, undershoots and veer-offs, per FAA Advisory Circular 150/5300-13.

Lincoln Airport (LNK), located just off Cornhusker Highway in Nebraska, recently put the finishing touches on a $6 million runway project - the first major rehabilitation of its 12,900-foot primary runway in about 20 years.

Catastrophic sinkhole incidents are horrific events that take victims by surprise and leave onlookers shaking their heads in disbelief. From the Florida man who was killed when his bedroom floor collapsed beneath him last year to eight cars being swallowed from the National Corvette Museum earlier this year, they're all hard to fathom.

With the clock ticking and a dauntingly long list of complex enabling projects to complete, Evansville Regional Airport (EVV) recently beat the Dec. 31, 2015, FAA deadline for runway safety area improvements by over one year.

Airport Improvement

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